First Foodie: Is Michelle Obama a stealth locavore? Grist's Tom Laskawy ponders the possibility. According to the Washington Post, FLOTUS's commitment to denying Big Ag goes a bit beyond scratching out a few rows of heirloom radishes on the South Lawn. She's sending signals that she may be willing to drive the agenda of the good food movement in schools, a focus (starting this fall) of Slow Food USA. Writes Laskawy: Just as health care reformers want to know where President Obama will draw his line in the sand on the health care bill, I think it's worth wondering will Michelle Obama be drawing lines for food policy and kids comes the fall? Will she actively campaign for particular reforms? After Alice Waters and other slow foodies openly advocated for Hilary last year (thinking she'd be a food movement symp), does Michelle have some surprise game?
Hater watch: At our sister Village Voice Media food blog Fork in the Road, Sarah DiGregorio rails against those itty-bitty goodies baked in pleated papers. For a long time, I thought cupcakes would eventually go away. Like the Atkins diet and elaborately molded stacks of tuna tartare, the precious little nubbins would hop off into the sunset, and we'd all move on to the Next! Big! Thing! Cupcakes went through the traditional stages of a relationship with the food media -- first, they were cute; then they were eye-rollingly common; now, they're done. Except they're not. Lick your fingers and move on , girl.
This week, S.F. street food vendor Crème Brûlée Man sparked an online conversation about the positives that could happen if there were to be a volunteer effort to help periodically clean up Dolores Park, the de facto weekend playground for so many in San Francisco. Just a few days and several giving people later, there's a first cleanup planned for this Sunday, July 19, at 5 p.m., a Web site where you can sign up to help, and planned drink specials at Amnesia (853 Valencia at 19th St.) for volunteers after they finish. Gloves, trash bags, and a limited number of trash pickers will be provided. There's also a Twitter feed for announcements about this and other upcoming dates.
Tabasco's premium tequila is labeled hecho en Mexico. It adds a touch of heat to the usual margarita, Bloody Mary, or shot. Expect to feel the burn on the back of your tongue within seconds of imbibing. On a heat spectrum of one to ten (ten being unbearably hot), Tabasco tequila ranks a respectable six or seven. And it does settle once and for all the question, "Why add a dash of hot sauce if it's already in the bottle-o'-booze?" Of course, part of the fun of spicy eating and drinking is the bragging rights. Just remember to play nice -- warn your friends before mixing or serving up this spirit.
As of now, you'll have to score Tabasco tequila online at Binny's. The cost is $22.99 for a 750 ml bottle, or, for truly flush heat freaks, $262.09 for a case.
So why are we telling you about the event? Three reasons. First, SFoodie's own Tamara Palmer is one of the esteemed judges (hint: we hear she likes bacon). Second, we admire Food Wars' puns: The event starts, in wording on its Web site, "at 1 p.m. sharp (cheddar) and runs till (amook) 4 p.m."
And third, there's always next time -- follow SF Food Wars on Twitter and Facebook to learn about future wars. Jeannie Choe, who self-describes as SF Food Wars' gatekeeper, told us they're definitely planning more Battle Royales, and said she was delighted and overwhelmed by the instantaneous response. "I was afraid nobody would sign up," she said.
The next war will be announced at the mac 'n' cheese event. But we hear it'll be suh-weet!
Tomorrow, 18 Reasons (593 Guerrero at 18th St.) firmly puts tongue to cheek to entice eaters into a stuffed foods potluck: turducken, pigs in a blanket, deviled eggs, you name it. (Full disclosure: This blogger works as a caterer for Bi-Rite Market, which is affiliated with the 18 Reasons food-art nonprofit.)
The potluck costs a mere $5 for those who bring a stuffed dish, $10 for those looking to sample without the work. The two-hour event starts at 7 p.m. 18 Reasons was the site of a recent Meatpaper photo exhibit, and hosts a variety of events and classes of the sustainable foodie variety. Membership is $40 a year, and includes freebies and $5 gift cards for Bi-Rite Creamery and Market, Dolores Park Café, Pizzeria Delfina, and Tartine Bakery.
Cool and refreshing yet bold and eminently satisfying, the gimlet is one summertime drink that's ridiculously easy to prepare. Once you decide how strong you want it, that is. "A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and nothing else," said Marlowe's quicksilver drinking buddy Terry Lennox, but the result is a bit too sweet for today's dry-martini palates. Other recipes favor fresh lime juice and simple syrup instead of the bottled stuff, but the wonderfully silky quality of Rose's is one of the cocktail's intrinsic pleasures. Opt for three or four parts gin (depending on your taste) to one part Rose's, shaken a good long time with plenty of ice, strained into a chilled martini glass and garnished with a wedge of lime.
Some of the city's finest saloons have tarted up this pure and simple concoction with grapefruit rinds, fresh basil, and elderflower f'chrissake, but the only variation we soundly approve of is the tequila gimlet, a dreamy marriage of longtime sweethearts agave and lime. (Don't get us started on the pallid, juniper-free vodka gimlet.) Make your first toast to Sir Thomas Gimlette, the 19th century British Navy surgeon who made his sailors' daily anti-scurvy ration of lime juice more palatable by spiking it with gin. Yum.
Earlier this morning, Google released a map of Alice's favorite places (restaurants, food shops, cultural centers, clothes boutiques), and we asked her to mention a few choice spots off the top of her head. "The farmers' market at the Ferry Building, where I go nearly every Saturday. Davies Symphony Hall, to hear Michael Tilson Thomas. Omnivore Books, for cookbooks and events. The Pacific Film Archive, the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, and Redbird, my favorite little clothing store in Berkeley. I could go on ...", but her voice trailed off as she looked longingly at the tiny dance floor.
Who else is in the initial group of Bay Area notables who contributed lists for the maps? "Gavin Newsom, Stanlee Gatti ... my mind has gone blank! And many more people who I love and respect."
We'd lost her. Alice was up and twirling again.
Let's do lunch:
Eat lunch squatting in an alley -- no, seriously. SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody says gorge on a waffle-and-fried chicken box and red velvet cupcake at takeout-only Little Skillet (360 Ritch at Townsend, 777-2777).
Drink therapy:
Mingle with crusty barflys and hipsters lugging Urban Outfitters shopping bags while scoring free happy hour nibbles and drink specials at Dave's (29 Third St. at Market, 495-6726).
Its MySpace page welcomes boozehounds and lushes. They can save serious coin by guzzling $3 happy-hour well drinks and drafts while taking aim at Buckhunter's Call of the Wild video game: Buckshot Bar and Gameroom (3848 Geary at Third Ave., 831-8838), 5-9 p.m.
![Alice [hearts] waltzing -- and using Google Maps. - MEREDITH BRODY](https://media1.fdncms.com/sfweekly/imager/alice-hearts-waltzing-and-using-googl/u/blog/2621363/alicedance.jpg?cb=1454778244)
